Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 6, 1 June 1999 — Mauna Kear kuahiwi kū haʻo [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mauna Kear kuahiwi kū haʻo

N KALAKAUA'S "Legends and Myths ofHawai'i" a favorite mo'olelo is "'Umi the Peasant Prince," and a favorite part of it is the Kihapū getting its voice. According to this account, Kiha, Līloa's father, 'Umi's grandfather, increased the mana of the family's heirloom pū, by secretly depositing it "in a cave near the summit of Mauna Kea." During the night, while Kiha was in a valley below, "a sound unearthly and terrible eame echoing down the mountain-side, followed by a hunieane. Kiha rose to his feet in the darkness and said, 'The great Leno has kept faith. He has blown the sacred trumpet, and henee forth, it will have the voice of a god!'" Mauna Kea's fascination predates the arrival of telescopes to its heights. It was a plaee where a paramount chief expressed obedience to sacred protocol and was answered by a god. Today, some people still practice traditions associated with Kiha and Lono. From mid-1998 through the present,

my attention has focused on Mauna Kea not for past wonders, but for present concerns. I belong to the Mauna Kea Advisory Council, formed following publication of the "1998 Audit of the Management of Mauna Kea and the Mauna Kea Scienee Reserve," whieh was critical of management of the summit area. Our task is "to provide input to the University of Hawai'i and the people of the state of Hawai'i regarding conditions under whieh future devel-

opment should occur on Mauna Kea." The Council includes astronomers, business men, educators, government employees and members of the environmental, Hawai'i maoh, hunting and sports communities. According to the report, "The historic preservation plan that represents the university's good faith effort to protect historic resources on Mauna Kea is over ten years late.". Further, the report indicates that rules for implementing the plan were never promulgated and no enforcement capability was developed. Extensive ethnographic work was done recently in conjunction with the updating of UH's 1983 Complex Development Plan of the

Mauna Kea Science I Reserve and Hale | Pōhaku. This ethnog- [ raphy was not made ; available to the advisoI ry committee for more : informed decisions on those "conditions under | whieh future developf ment should occur on Mauna Kea." Additionally, the auditor's report recommended, "The master plan should incorporate a new way to measure and control devel-

opment on the summit. The university should identify in its master plan the total carrying capacity of the mountain, the space available, the types of facilities to be built, and presence or absence of natural flora and fauna and historic and culturally significant sites." Though requested, neither total carrying capacity numbers nor numbers for a carrying capacity adjusted to provide protection of natural and cultural resources on the mountain were provided to Advisory Council members. The process by whieh the Advisory Council received information and made decisions has been questioned from within and without. Whether commenting on a specific Con-

servation District Use Permit or as practitioners and environmentalists or as members of the Advisory Council, citizens of Ka Lāhui Hawai'i and members of the Sierra Club have steadily called for a higher standard of information eollection and evaluation, management planning and pohcy enforcement on Mauna Kea. At the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs' 1998 convention, a resolution called for a moratorium on all building on the mountain until the management plan for Mauna Kea was revised and completed. In February, the OHA's Land Committee and Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council supported the same. Following public review and eomment, the UH Board of Regents will decide this matter of development on Mauna Kea. Community activists are weighing their options should the regents decide to proceed with development without a current management plan and enforcement capabihty in plaee. After the most recent meeting, our family was looking for rain prayers to Lono in this dry season at home in Kona nei. We mused about that ancient time when Lono responded to Kiha's bidding with a eall ffom the summit of Mauna Kea. As we considered the current focus on the mountain, our thoughts hngered there a httle bit longer. ■

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TRUSTEE MESSAGES

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